New York Attorney General Letitia James says state-led prosecutions against former President Donald Trump may be put on hold until the federal classified documents case plays out.
James, whose office is investigating Trump on civil charges, said that includes her case as well as the indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the expected case to be brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
”So, in all likelihood, I believe that my case, as well as DA Bragg and the Georgia case, will unfortunately have to be adjourned pending the outcome of the federal case,” James said during a live taping of the Pod Save America podcast. “So it all depends on the scheduling of this particular case.”
But Pete Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said he had his staff research the issue and they found “no law that gives the federal government the ability to go first.”
“So, in all likelihood, I believe that my case, as well as DA Bragg and the Georgia case, will unfortunately have to be adjourned pending the outcome of the federal case,” James said during a live taping of the PodSaveAmerica podcast. “So it all depends on the scheduling of this particular case.”But Pete Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said that’s not the case, after having his staff research the issue.”They know of no law that gives the federal government the ability to gofirst,” Skandalakis said. “They would both go forward.”One exception would be if the federal government had a defendant in custody and refused to release that person for a state prosecution, Skandalakis said. Another would be for an agreement to be reached by federal and state prosecutors to allow one case to go forward and the other to wait, he said.This happened during the prosecution of Fredric Tokars, who was indicted in both federal and state courts on charges relating to the November 1992 shotgun slaying of his wife.Tokars was charged with racketeering and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Atlanta and charged with murder in Cobb County,
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